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Foster Introduces Legislation to Simplify Tax Filing

Apr 15, 2019

Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) announced the introduction of H.R. 2304, the Autofill Act of 2019. The legislation would create a voluntary tax filing program to allow individuals to use a secure IRS website to download a tax form automatically populated with information the IRS already collects from employers, the Social Security Administration, and financial institutions. The information from the populated tax forms would be available as both a printable document file and a computer-readable file compatible with existing tax preparation software.

“It’s time to modernize the tax filing process for the American people,” Foster said. “Our tax code is complicated enough. There’s no reason why we can’t make it easier for taxpayers to access the information the IRS already has on file. This is a commonsense solution that will save people time, money, and help bring our tax filing process into the 21st century.”

According to a report by the Brookings Institution, a national pre-filled tax return program could save taxpayers $2 billion in fees and 225 million hours of time each year.